2 amazing nights in Northwest Arkansas 2024
Two nights. Two different locations. In our 2-night trips blog series, we hit the road to show that you can pack a whole lot of fun into a short amount of time. We hope some of these places end up on your travel list, too.
Wild coneflowers frame a view of the Little Golden Gate Bridge crossing Table Rock Lake in Arkansas.
The first time I can remember going to Arkansas was by boat. Table Rock Lake, which is mostly in Missouri, also dips down into Arkansas.
This instilled a sense of wonder in me as a young child, crossing into another state by water instead of by road.
When I was a little older, I went to the quirky, artsy town of Eureka Springs, Arkansas. It was a quick daytrip during yet another Table Rock Lake vacation. (I was blessed with many growing up.)
After that, I didn’t visit the state for decades. Until recently, when we planned a camper van trip to Northwest Arkansas, part of the Ozark Mountains region.
By the way, when you see the acronym NWA in this area, it stands for Northwest Arkansas. Not the seminal hip hop group with Dr. Dre, Ice Cube and Eazy-E.
Now you know.
Visiting Northwest Arkansas
+ the Ozark Mountains
Arkansas, part of the South, is known as the Natural State for its rivers, forests, mountains, wetlands, hot springs and wildlife. It’s a great destination for hiking, fishing, white-water rafting, rock climbing and mountain biking.
In fact, the city of Bentonville is among the top mountain biking spots in the U.S. You can thank Walmart money for that. Some heirs have poured millions of dollars into building and maintaining trails, which attract riders from all over.
We visited the area with some slower-paced activities in mind. Specifically, an outdoor concert at the Walmart Arkansas Music Pavilion (AMP), some hiking and other tootling about.
The Bike Inn in Bentonville, Arkansas, caters to mountain bikers with a bike washing station, a sauna and more.
Night 1: Arkansas camper van trip
Bentonville / Rogers
Stay: The Bike Inn in Bentonville
Minimum stay: 1 night
Open: All year
The Bike Inn is one of many lodging options catering to mountain bikers in Northwest Arkansas. It’s a charming, renovated roadside motel with rooms, glamping cabins and camper van spots with electric hookups.
It also just so happens to be in town. You can walk right across the street to several restaurants in a strip mall, or use the grill or community kitchen to make a meal. So convenient.
There’s a bike wash station, bathrooms and showers, a sauna, community fire-pit and more. You can also rent bikes, kayaks and other gear if you don’t have your own.
Bonus, you don’t need to be a mountain biker to stay here. We aren’t. It was simply a convenient (and cute) location for exploring Bentonville and Rogers. We could stay in our camper van without staying outside of town.
From the inn, it was an easy Uber to and from the concert to see Cat Power, Modest Mouse (a longtime fav) and the Pixies.
A paved trail at Coler Mountain Bike Preserve in Bentonville, Arkansas, winds through an Ozark forest.
Bonnie cools off in a creek at Coler Mountain Bike Preserve in Bentonville, Arkansas.
The next morning, we walked about a mile for a delicious breakfast at The Buttered Biscuit. So many options for fried chicken and biscuit sammies.
Pimento cheese? Yes, honey, this is the South. Plus pickles. Sausage gravy? Of course.
Bellies full, we headed to the Coler Mountain Bike Preserve in northwest Bentonville. You can camp, hike and mountain bike here.
For a day visit, there are two parking lots off of NW 3rd Street. The Grove parking lot, at 3rd Street and NW Coler-Grove Lane, is quite a bit bigger than the South Gateway lot off 3rd Street. Both have restrooms and bike facilities, such as air for your tires.
Our aim was to hike to Airship Coffee at Coler, which you can only reach on feet or on bike — not by car. Sadly, we were thwarted by the near 100-degree heat. But, we still enjoyed a short hike and a rest at a lovely little creek, where Bonnie took a dip and sat in the cool water.
Tip: If you’re hikers and not riders like us, stick to the paved trails and keep a lookout for passing bikes.
The dirt-surface and elevated trails are geared toward all levels of mountain bikers. Given how fast they ride, I wouldn’t want to walk on those trails, especially with dogs. No need to court a bike-human-canine collision. Ouch.
The Water Stop, with its colorful towers, is a free splash park in downtown Rogers, Arkansas.
Once we gave up on the hike and cooled down in the van, we headed to the historic downtown of Rogers, Arkansas. This was a humans-only stroll while the pets continued to enjoy the air conditioned van.
Now, this is a vibrant little area. Shops, restaurants, galleries. Railyard Park has water features to play in, and the 15-mile Railyard Loop Trail runs through here.
A beer flight with IPAs and an Onyx coffee stout at Ozark Beer Company in Rogers, Arkansas. We left with a crowler and a 6-pack, both IPAs, to enjoy at the campground.
We stopped at Ozark Beer Company and Onyx Coffee Lab, giving me the coffee fix I missed from Airship. But, truth be told, I likely would’ve caffeinated up at each spot if given the chance.
Both of these places were excellent. I’m talking, “Should we move here?” excellent. Not to mention friendly and cute.
Then, it was time to continue our tour of Northwest Arkansas by heading northeast to the small town of Beaver.
Camper Van Beethoven at Beaver RV Park & Campground in Arkansas.
Night 2: Arkansas camper van trip
Beaver
About 29 miles northeast of downtown Rogers — portions of the road are quite curvy
Stay: Beaver RV Park & Campground
Minimum stay: 2 nights (we booked two nights but only stayed one, which allowed us to ignore the checkout time and enjoy a slow morning before heading home)
Open: Mar 15 – Nov 15
When I say Beaver, Arkansas, is small, I’m talking 0.5 square miles small. And, apparently, 0.2 of those square miles are water.
But, who needs much of a town when you have a scenic lakefront campground? Especially when the lake is an all-time favorite: Table Rock.
A cave is visible in the limestone bluff above Table Rock Lake in Beaver, Arkansas.
Yep, this is part of the lake that’s in Arkansas.
It’s the White River arm of Table Rock. The same river feeds nearby Beaver Lake and others.
The lake isn’t very wide here, but boaters were still out there tubing and cruising below the towering limestone bluffs. Some congregated in the shade under the old Beaver Railroad Bridge. A relic of rusted metal and stone, the bridge spans about two-thirds of the lake before abruptly ending, no longer in use.
Continue around the bend from this bridge, and you’ll see what Beaver is famous for: The Little Golden Gate Bridge.
Ski boats on Table Rock Lake float near the old Beaver Railroad Bridge in Arkansas.
The one-lane Little Golden Gate Bridge carries Arkansas Highway 187 across Table Rock Lake. In use since 1949, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.
While it’s a vehicle bridge that crosses the entire lake, it, too, seems from another time. Partly because it’s a single-lane suspension bridge. Also because of the timber decking that you thud-thud-thud your way across.
As we watched from the shore, we could see those timbers moving up and down, up and down as vehicles drove across.
Unlike the much more famous and larger Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, this one is actually golden in color. Painted a cheerful canary yellow, the bridge stands out against the blue of the water and the green of the foliage lining the shore.
You can admire the bridge from the campground, which also offers day-use access to the lake for a fee, or from the Town of Beaver Trail. This is a mostly flat, out-and-back natural surface trail that takes about 30 minutes to enjoy.
The spring house on the Town of Beaver Trail dates to 1912. People built these to keep their water source clean and to create a cool place to store food.
The trail starts at the northwest side of the bridge, where there’s a small parking area. From there, it continues along the lake’s edge, where we saw people fishing, cliff jumping and swimming.
Back to the campground, it offers 41 sites. The majority are water-and-electric sites ($35 per night, plus tax, at the time of this blog posting). There are also seven tent sites ($15 per night, plus tax) and 12 full hookup sites ($45 per night, plus tax).
Beaver RV Park & Campground in Arkansas offers day-use lake access and overnight stays.
There’s a boat launch, kayaks to rent and ice and firewood for sale. There are also vault toilets and pay showers, which require tokens to use. The dump station, if your site doesn’t have one, costs $10.
All in all, it’s a pretty great campground. We had a lakefront, water-and-electric site, #33, for vehicles up to 35 feet long.
From, there it was just a few steps to the gravel beach and shallow wading area, perfect for splashing around in the lake.
We’d be happy to go back to stay — and float around — longer. Which would also give us time to explore Eureka Springs.
Oh, we’ll also head back to Bentonville on our next Arkansas camper van trip. We need to even the score with Airship Coffee. Because right now, it’s Airship – 1, Super Cool fam – 0.